The Texas Legislature may make another run in the 2017 session at curbing the powers of homeowner associations. The likely focus: restricting the ability of associations to hit homeowners who commit even minor violations of community rules with attorney fees that can reach the tens of thousands of dollars and potentially lead to foreclosures.
State Rep. Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville, the chairman of the House Committee on Business and Industry, said his committee began looking into homeowner association issues this past summer at the request of Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio.
Oliveira said in an email to Reporting Texas that in the past several sessions, the committee “has debated many bills where people felt homeowners associations had overstepped their bounds. For example, people complained when some HOAs banned political signs in people’s yards. They complained when some HOAs banned flying the American flag in front a houses. They complained when some HOAs would not permit solar panels to be put on houses. The list goes on and on.” Read more: